If you go

With hearty, comforting dishes like poutine and meatballs alongside delicate pastas using local ingredients and house-cured charcuterie, the menu at the new The Twisted Oak in Tarrytown is just what everyone wants on a cold winter’s day. And when spring comes? Dishes will change, and they’ll be just as appealing.

“The menu really is inspired by the seasons, and my travels in Italy and time spent overseas,” says chef and owner Michael Cutney. “We’re taking more of a modern approach to classic dishes.” He calls the cuisine New American farmhouse fare with an Italian twist.

Cutney partnered with childhood friend Jacob Parenti, an experienced front-of-house manager, to open the restaurant, which is located in a 100-year-old building, the former home of Isabella’s Bistro. Parenti’s family’s custom woodworking business is responsible for the beautifully renovated space.

“We were looking for some sophistication, and we wanted to give it a farmhouse feel, so to speak,” says Cutney. The crown jewel of the warm, welcoming space is the bar, made from the staves of French oak barrels reclaimed from their friend, local vintner David Lionheart.

The menu will change daily, based around availability and inspiration. “On cold days we’re looking to do more comforting dishes, like short ribs and pork belly, and we’re doing a chicken and dumpling dish… we utilize whatever’s in season,” says Cutney. Pastas, including garganelli, tagliarini, gnudi, and lasagna, are made fresh in-house and paired with ingredients such as duck, rabbit, and seasonal produce.

And then there’s the poutine. “Poutine is a dish that originated in Quebec —what we would know as ‘disco fries,’ when you go late night to a diner — and it’s just one of my favorite things in the world, cheese fries with gravy on it,” says Cutney. “We took a step back and evaluated the dish and said, ‘How can we make this even better?’” Instead of French fries, Twisted Oak cubes potatoes, blanches them, confits them in duck fat, and crisps them to order, then serves them with local cheese curd and duck gravy.

Another menu staple: Cutney’s light and airy meatballs. “That was actually one of the first things I learned how to cook when I was young, and it’s a recipe I’ve been developing over the course of my career,” says Cutney, who did an internship in Florence and has cooked at Union Square Cafe in Manhattan and Café of Love in Mount Kisco.

“I took some time off when I left the café and it allowed me to have some freedom in my research, searching for the right place,” says Cutney. “This is something that I’ve been wanting to do since I was a kid.”